Someone on another forum asked “how does one jump a Viper with a dead battery?”
This is an important question for new Viper owners. What follows is my response based on experiences with all generations of Vipers…including “on the road” situations. If you see errors below, please correct them !!!
“In my opinion, the safest and easiest way is to connect a portable battery jumper pack under the hood at the designated positive and ground jump posts…as outlined in the owners manual (particularly on 1993.5 through 2002 Vipers where direct access to the battery is not available). Just yesterday, I used a fully charged Group 78 AGM battery to start a Gen II Viper with a DEAD battery. I suspect that the Viper’s battery had developed an internal short.
The above mentioned jumper posts can be used when jumping with another car. While it can be done with the donor car’s engine off (safer for both vehicles), this does not always work…especially with batteries being commonly located in remote locations. In such cases, the amperage loss over both vehicles’ internal battery cables that run from their jumper posts to their batteries can easily add 20 feet more wire resistance in addition to the 10-15 feet of external jumper cables. This setup usually requires the donor car’s engine to be running.
When making the connections, complete the setup by making the last connection to the negative terminal on the car with the dead battery. If the dead battery car starts, remove the connections ASAP to avoid possible damage to either vehicle…again, removing the negative cable on the dead battery first. Sparks near a charging battery can net a hydrogen explosion. In times of stress, getting careless with the cables can produce a powerful electrical arc and subsequent injuries if they short positive to negative.
While others may add useful pointers that I have forgotten to mention, I would suggest that folks read through these processes on automotive sites.
Here is a “decent” link:
